Trail Blazers - IFAD

“I felt we could earn a little more money if we started some business,” Marshilina pipes
in, “and so I took a bank loan of INR 2,000 (USD 44) just last year to start a small
grocery shop in the village.” Her petty shop is on one side of her home and faces the
road. It is well-stocked and one can find anything from beetle-nut to food grain. “My
husband runs the store and we make a minimum of INR 50 (USD 1) per day,” she
smiles. “Both villagers and outsiders find it handy since we are located very near the
main entrance to the village.” Marshilina has repaid INR 500 (USD 11) towards the
loan already and plans to expand her shop when business picks up.
A. Chakpek K. SHG is engaged in floriculture since 2007, thanks to MRDS and their
convergence with the Horticulture Department. The department helped the SHG set
up a green house in April 2010 to grow Leather Fern. Pebalin Sangma is Secretary of
the SHG and is responsible for the proper functioning of the green house. “Gonjoni
Sangama volunteered to give one bigha out of her eight bighas land (3 bighas = 1
hectare) she owns to the SHG for the green house,” Pebalin informs, “and we received
500 saplings free to begin our initiative.” The SHG has already finished two harvests
over the last one year but are yet to receive money from the Department.
Managing the green house is huge challenge, so just how are these ten women doing it?
“We’ve divided jobs among us and work in rotation to water the ferns every day,” Pebalin
tells me. So whose turn is it today? “Nobody’s,” they say…and why…“We never do any
work on a Sunday!” they laugh. I visited Napak Songma village on a Sunday and found
that the village people take the Sabbath seriously! Nevertheless, the group had their work
schedule planned to the ‘T’. “Once a week we do weeding, and adding manure happens on
Wednesdays. This takes about two hours in the afternoon,” Pebalin explains, “and everyone
works together.”
The group, along with the leadership of Marshilina has dreams to start more enterprises
and to bring prosperity to the village. She has amply demonstrated that collective
strength can help women move beyond the boundaries of their homes.
Marshilina Sangma with her husband Amiyel Marak and their daughters at the grocery shop they
started with the help of a bank loan.
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